I’ve been travelling around South East Asia for two and a half months now, so I thought I’d share a few of the things that have come in really handy along the way. Obviously there is the usual stuff to remember like sun cream, bug spray, a toothbrush and so on but there are also a few things I’m seriously glad I squeezed in my already over flowing backpack before I came.

Portable charger…

I bought a portable charger from John Lewis about 5 months ago and I am addicted. I have an iPhone and as everyone knows the battery life isn’t great. If your anything like me, always checking emails and writing lists, you’ll know half way through the day your phone has basically given up on you. There are loads of different types you can get that charge your phone a varied amount of times. Mine cost me £35 and is called a JuiceWeekender. It charges my phone 100% four times, which is very handy indeed!

Ear plugs and eye mask…

Trust me I have no trouble sleeping. I can pretty much sleep anywhere anytime so I didn’t imagine these would come in particularly handy, but I was wrong! It could just be my bad luck but most places I’ve stayed in, Lovina, Ubud, Gili and Bangkok, have been very loud at night. Whether it’s loud because of the night life or because there are cockerels on a farm next door, I had trouble switching off. I just ordered a cheap set containing both an eye mask and ear plugs for about a fiver, but they are now a staple in my night time routine. I’ll definitely be buying a cuter set before I start uni.

Spare memory card…

I had this great plan that I would fill up a memory card with video footage and amazing photos and then import them all on to Google Drive to keep them safe so I could clear my memory card and carry on shooting. However I didn’t factor in how hard is would be to find an internet cafe or have strong enough wifi. Thankfully I threw in a few extra memory cards so as long as I keep the full ones safe I should arrive home with all my photos in tack. There has been places out here that you can buy memory cards from but they are not much cheaper so I’d recommend bringing some in your luggage as they don’t exactly take up much space.

Travel journal…

Okay so even though I can talk for England I’m pretty rubbish when it comes to writing a journal apparently. My lovely friend G bought me a great travel journal just before I left and I vowed to write in it on a regular basis. So far that’s not gone to plan (oops). I have been so busy every day I’ve just simply not had time. Any spare time I have had I’ve used talking to my family back home when the time difference is in our favour. But no need to fear as during the last week or so I’ve knuckled down and actually got quite far into it. Any sort of note book will do or you can get specific travel journals that might be split into sections or have little travel quotes which are sometimes a nice touch. Most people I’ve met have been keeping some sort of journal just because it’s something you can read back in 10 years (as long as you haven’t lost it) and it’ll be a nice reminder of the amazing time you had. When I do have a spare 15 minutes to write I just casually jot down the things I’ve been doing and how I feel. It can also be very comforting when missing home. I’m really not a very sentimental person but I have been keeping the odd plane boarding pass and a couple leaflets from temple trips to stick in the back as well (aren’t I cute).